Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/511

JACKSON 493 templated by the president. The measure was the president's own. He called a cabinet coun- cil on Sept. 10, at which he read a paper in sup- port of it, but found few of his advisers reedy to agree with him. Mr. McLane having been appointed to the state department, Mr. Duane was placed at the head of the treasury, for the purpose of executing the intention of the pres- ident ; but as he refused to act, he was sum- marily dismissed, and Mr. Taney, who succeed- ed him, carried out the measure, whereupon the senate refused to confirm his appointment. The senate also rejected four of the persons appointed government directors, and insisted upon its rejection when they were a second time nominated. That body made a call upon the president for a copy of the paper read to the cabinet on Sept. 10, 1833 ; but he refused to furnish it. A formidable combina- tion against the president was effected in the senate, headed by Calhoun, Clay, and Webster, and a resolution condemning his course was adopted by a vote of 26 to 20. The president sent in a protest, which the senate voted a breach of its privileges. The house of repre- sentatives sustained the president. A panic existed for some time, and the opposition was supported by a powerful popular party. The gold currency was revived, and gradually con- fidence was restored ; and in 1837, just before the expiration of his public life, the censure passed upon President Jackson was expunged by the senate, 24 to 19. The foreign diplo- macy of President Jackson was very success- ful. Useful commercial treaties were made with several countries, and were renewed with others. Indemnities for spoliations on Ameri- can commerce were obtained from France, Spain, Naples, and Portugal, and the most amicable relations were sustained with Eng- land. During his second term the national debt was extinguished, the Cherokees were re- moved from Georgia and the Creeks from Florida, the original number of the states was doubled by the admission of Arkansas and Michigan into the Union, and the gold cur- rency was greatly increased. On the other side, the agitation of the slavery question was then renewed with more vigor than ever be- fore, and the Seminole war was recommenced, lie issued a farewell address to his country- men, and on March 4, 1837, retired from pub- lic life. Leaving Washington on the 6th, he returned to the Hermitage, where he resided until his death, ever taking a lively interest in politics, and especially in the welfare of his party. The immediate occasion of his death was dropsy, but throughout most of his life he had suffered severely from various diseases; and some of those actions of his which have been most warmly condemned were largely owing to the irritation of illness. He was a thoroughly honest man, as straightforward in action as his thoughts were unsophisticated. His charities were frequent and unostentatious ; and in his last days he made an open profes- sion of those religious sentiments which he had always entertained. His chief intellectual gifts were energy and intuitive judgment. In pri- vate life at the Hermitage he is described by Benton as a careful farmer, overlooking every- thing himself, seeing that the fields and fences were in good order, the stock well attended, and the servants comfortably provided for. " But he needed some excitement beyond that which a farming life can afford, and found it for some years in the animating sports of the turf. . . . His temper was placable as well as irascible, and his reconciliations were cordial and sincere." The following are the most noted biographies of Andrew Jackson, and works relating to his career : " Life of Andrew Jackson, Major General in the Service of the United States," by John Henry Eaton (Philadel- phia, 1824; 1st ed. about 1818); "Life of An- drew Jackson, President of the United States of America," by "William Cobbett, M. P. (New York, 1834) ; " A Narrative of Events in the South of France, and of the Attack on New Or- leans, in 1814 and 1815," by Capt. John Henry Cooke (London, 1835) ; " The Campaign of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans, in the years 1814 and 1815," by the author of "The Subaltern" (London, 1837); "Life of Andrew Jackson, Private, Military, and Civil," by Amos Kendall (New York, 1844) ; " Thirty Years' View, or a History of the Workings of the United States Government for 30 Years, from 1820 to 1850," by Thomas H. Benton (2 vols., New York, 1854-'6); "Jackson and New Orleans," by Alexander Walker (New York, 1856); and "Life of Andrew Jackson," by James Parton (3 vols., New York, 1860). JACKSON. I. Charles, an American jurist, born in Newburyport, Mass., May 31, 1775, died in Boston, Dec. 13, 1855. He was the son of Jonathan Jackson, a merchant greatly respected for his virtues and intelligence. He graduated at Harvard college in 1793, studied law three years with Theophilus Parsons, then of Newburyport, established himself there as a lawyer, and rose rapidly into practice. In 1803 he removed to Boston, and for ten years was a leading member of the Suffolk bar. He entered into partnership with Judge Samuel Hubbard, and the business of their office be- came more lucrative probably than that of any other in New England had been up to that time. In 1813 he was chosen a judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts, which office he resigned at the end of ten years on account of ill health. He was an influential member of the convention of 1820 for amending the state constitution. In 1832 he was appointed one of the commissioners to revise the general statutes of the state, and drew up the second part of the "Revised Statutes." In 1828 he published a "Treatise on the Pleadings and Practice in Real Actions." II. James, an Amer- ican physician, brother of the preceding, born in Newburyport, Oct. 3, 1777, died in Boston, Aug. 27, 1867. He graduated at Harvard col-